The Justice Department had a released a report that found that private prisons had higher rates of assaults, fewer services for inmates, and were no more cost-effective than prisons run by the federal government.

This is a welcome development for sure, and the Justice Department deserves credit for taking this step. But, in a country that will spend $7.5 billion this year to put people in federal prison -- and when prison populations and costs have skyrocketed in recent decades -- something more fundamental is wrong.

Our pattern of mass incarceration is a choice we've made, and we can change those choices. To see what new choices might look like in your community, use our interactive game.